PREVIEWS
January 26: Second Stage Theatre offers Tracy Letts’ Man from Nebraska, directed by David Cromer. In the play—a 2004 Pulitzer Prize finalist—the August: Osage County playwright explores what happens when we lose our belief system and the people who make our lives meaningful. Tony Award winner Reed Birney (The Humans) stars in the leading role.
January 31: The Signature Theatre presents the newest work from MacArthur “Genius” winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. His latest offering, Everybody, is billed as a modern riff on one of the oldest plays in the English language. The production, directed by Lila Neugebauer, will feature a new cast member in the role of Everybody for each performance—to be selected nightly by a lottery.
January 31: The New Group presents the U.S. premiere of Wallace Shawn’s Evening at the Talk House, starring the playwright and actor himself, along with two-time Tony winner Matthew Broderick. The company’s artistic director, Scott Elliott, helms the debut.
January 31: New York Theatre Workshop opens its doors for Geoff Sobelle’s immersive theatrical installation The Object Lesson. The theatre is turned into a giant storage facility for the production, allowing audiences to roam and poke through the clutter.
February 1: Kid Victory, the new musical from Chicago composer John Kander and writer Greg Pierce, arrives at the Vineyard Theatre. Tony nominee Liesl Tommy, who helmed the world premiere, returns to direct the show about a missing teenager and his transition back into normalcy.
February 2: Glenn Close returns to Broadway as Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard—a role which won her the 1995 Tony Award for Best Actress, and which she recently reprised in London. The award-winning musical is being revived at the Palace Theatre.
February 2: Steven Levenson, book writer for Dear Evan Hansen, returns to Roundabout Theatre, where he launched his career. His newest play, If I Forget, takes place in the final months before 9/11 and follows a liberal Jewish Studies professor at odds with his family and their history. Daniel Sullivan directs.
February 3: A new Russian indie rock musical, from the mind behind Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, debuts in a fully operational church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, from Pipeline Theatre Company. Dave Malloy and Jason Craig’s Beardo chronicles the ascent of the infamous Rasputin.
OPENING
January 26: The Liar, David Ives’ sixth collaboration with Classic Stage Company, officially opens Off-Broadway. The play is an adaptation of Pierre Corneille’s 17th century farce of mistaken identities and secrets, Le Menteur. Michael Kahn, artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., directs.
January 31: The New York premiere of Yen officially opens Off-Broadway. MCC presents Anna Jordan’s Bruntwood Prize-winning play about two brothers who live without adult supervision—spending their time home alone, watching porn, and playing video games. The brothers are played by The Get Down star Justice Smith and Manchester by the Sea breakout and recent Oscar nominee Lucas Hedges.
SPECIAL EVENTS
January 26: The Phantom of the Opera celebrates 29 years on Broadway. The Tony-winning Andrew Lloyd Webber musical currently stars James Barbour as the Phantom and Ali Ewoldt as Christine.
READ MORE: HOW PHANTOM OF THE OPERA STILL RUNS FLAWLESSLY AFTER 29 YEARS
January 27: The second annual BroadwayCon kicks off in New York City. This year’s program features an exciting roster of celebrity guests, panels, and workshops. For all things BroadwayCon, check out PLAYBILL.COM/BROADWAYCON.
January 27: The Broadway revival of Falsettos celebrates the release of the show’s cast album with a performance and CD signing at Barnes & Noble (150 East 86th Street, New York) at 7 PM. Christian Borle, Stephanie J. Block, Anthony Rosenthal, Tracie Thoms, Brandon Uranowitz, Betsy Wolfe, and songwriter William Finn are slated to attend. The album can be ordered at Sh-k-Boom.com/Falsettos.
January 31: Following a leave of absence, Telly Leung returns to the role of Steven in the new Broadway musical In Transit at Circle in the Square Theatre.
